Labels

Friday, May 27, 2011

Read For The Heart

"When we limit our ability to articulate truth about God,

we limit our awareness of His presence and power in our lives."

~ Sarah Clarkson

Read For the Heart

Reading out loud to my family has been one of the greatest joys of being a mom. I began reading books out loud to Michael 21 years ago and I still read to my kids every night. (Well not Michael, he is married and makes his wife read to him). We have learned so much as a family no matter what book we read. When I heard that The Crew had the chance to review Read For The Heart:Whole Books For Wholehearted Families by Sarah Clarkson I knew I wanted to read it and would have bought it if I wasn't on the list. I wanted to read what a young person had to say about their families reading journey.

Sarah does a wonderful job in her book conveying her love for reading and her gratitude to her parents for instilling that love in her. Read For The Heart should be a must read for every parent. I couldn't put it down and Sarah has shown me other reasons why I should continue in our family reading time.

Read For The Heart has 384 pages and starts out with a chapter on Reading to Live where Sarah shares with us the reasons why she reads:

"Stories invite me to leave cold apathy and self-centered boredom and to enter instead a world of heroic and wondrous adventure."

"That constant expansion of thought."

"For a steadfast soul."

Chapter #2 talks about literacy in America. This is more than just statistics Sarah explains why there is a decline in reading and how it effects our children. The next chapter talks about how to begin reading as a family and that it is not always picture perfect.

The rest of the book talks about choosing books and book lists with a short reviews of each. There is a chapter on Picture Books, The Golden Age Classics, Children's Fiction, Fairy Tales and Fantasy, History and Biography, Spiritual Reading for Children, Poetry, and Music, Art and Nature. This is more than just a list of titles. Sarah explains why we should read from different genres and then she gives a brief description of each of her favorite books by author and or illustrator.

Read For the Heart: Whole Books For Wholehearted Families is available from Apologia Press for $17.00. You can read a sample chapter and view the completetable of contents at Apologia. This is a wonderful resource that every family could benefit from. If you are a reading family you will enjoy Sarah's spirit and her love for whole books or if you are not a reading family you will probably catch her spark and want to pick up a book and start reading today. I am eagerly awaiting the children's novel and collection of essays that Sarah is currently working on.

Sarah Clarkson grew up in a family committed to discipleship and personal ministry and began a personal walk with God at the age of sixteen. She is passionate about passing on the great ideas of literature and Scripture through writing and discipleship. Currently a freelance writer and editor, Sarah has spent the last few years working with Whole Heart Ministries at their conferences, speaking in the United States and overseas on such topics as beauty, literature, and loneliness. She has also served as a writer and editor for Whole Heart Press publishing projects and Whole Heart blogs. She is a passionate lover of literature and has conducted an intense study of children's literature that has resulted in Reading for the Heart, a guide to the best children's stories, to be published in 2009. When she isn't traveling to exotic places, reading fascinating books, or sharing coffee and ideas with friends, she can be found at home in the beautiful foothills of Colorado.

Apologia is a family-owned corporation with the mission to help homeschooling families learn, live, and defend the Christian faith. They offer a widevariety of products in their endeavor to help us.